Luggage today, especially, luggage carried on board mass transport, such as airlines, buses and trains, are provided with features such as straps and/or built-in extension handles and either plastic or metal slider “feet” or miniature wheels. In the prior art, two to four small wheels mounted on the base of the luggage—or even on other surfaces to facilitate moving the luggage when the wheels in the base are not in a correct position to roll on a surface—are provided for rolling, generally without an axle, but the weight in pulling such a load is mostly on a user and not primarily on the wheels since the luggage generally needs to be tilted on two wheels to more readily move it.
These features are designed to facilitate sliding or rolling luggage over paved concourses and for general movement within stations and between arrival and departure terminals which may be separated by quite a walking distance. But such features generally do not fully ease the burden of pulling a load across various floor surfaces, both indoor and outdoor and over obstacles such as curbing and stairs encountered in unexpected places.
Most mass transportation centers offer assistance to travelers with personal luggage which needs to be moved across large walking distances by providing porter service or large, four-wheeled baggage carts, but aside from the added expense of such a service, it is not always available, either due to lack of baggage carts, especially at peak hours of travel, or because the central collection points for the baggage carts are not conveniently located so as to be immediately useful to a traveler.
Another solution is to use a portable, light-weight mini-dolly that folds-up when not in use, but this is an added expense and the folded mini-dolly may be inconvenient to carry when not in use and may be damaged in transit. Furthermore, a mini-dolly is generally not well-suited for pulling fully-loaded and heavy luggage across long distances. Luggage provided with miniature wheels, and mini-dollies in general, are inappropriate for navigating stairs or crossing street curbing when trying to bring luggage as close as possible to a waiting vehicle. Baggage carts are especially not able to traverse stairs to reach another floor of a terminal, and can't be used without ramps or elevators which are often inconveniently located.
In addition, modern travelers, especially businessmen, are likely to have laptops to carry, but having their hands full, may find it awkward to also pull luggage around, with or without the extra concern for managing the use of a baggage cart or mini-dolly.
Thus it would be desirable to provide a light-weight, sturdy, improved wheeled luggage case that would be easily movable over a variety of surfaces, including stairs, without the need for baggage carts or mini-dollies, and which has a low center of gravity to ease the burden of moving personal goods, such as clothing and accessories, from place to place while traveling.